"House Speaker John Boehner is setting up his most dramatic confrontation with President Barack Obama to date, inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak about Iran in front of a joint session of Congress on Feb. 11."

“You may have seen that on Friday, the president warned us not to move ahead with sanctions on Iran, a state sponsor of terror,” Boehner said in the Republican meeting. “His exact message to us was, ‘Hold your fire.’ He expects us to stand idly by and do nothing while he cuts a bad deal with Iran. Two words: ‘Hell no!’ … We’re going to do no such thing.

“I am specifically asking him to address Congress on the threats posed by radical Islam and Iran,” Boehner said in the meeting. “America and Israel have always stood together in shared cause and common ideals, and now we must rise to the moment again. Let’s send a clear message to the White House — and the world — about our commitment to Israel and our allies.”

Boehner never consulted President Obama or anyone in the State Department beforehand, telling reporters, “Congress can make this decision on its own.” It would certainly appear to me that John Boehner is using Netanyahu to advance his own agenda, and that includes scuttling any kind of diplomatic efforts between the Obama administration and Iran. That would be appeasing the apocalyptic Christian evangelicals in his party.

It's a dangerous game that Boehner is playing by inviting a foreign leader to address Congress for the sole purpose of undermining our elected president. How does that play with our hyper-patriotic Americans?

"House Speaker John Boehner is setting up his most dramatic confrontation with President Barack Obama to date, inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak about Iran in front of a joint session of Congress on Feb. 11."

“You may have seen that on Friday, the president warned us not to move ahead with sanctions on Iran, a state sponsor of terror,” Boehner said in the Republican meeting. “His exact message to us was, ‘Hold your fire.’ He expects us to stand idly by and do nothing while he cuts a bad deal with Iran. Two words: ‘Hell no!’ … We’re going to do no such thing.

“I am specifically asking him to address Congress on the threats posed by radical Islam and Iran,” Boehner said in the meeting. “America and Israel have always stood together in shared cause and common ideals, and now we must rise to the moment again. Let’s send a clear message to the White House — and the world — about our commitment to Israel and our allies.”

Boehner never consulted President Obama or anyone in the State Department beforehand, telling reporters, “Congress can make this decision on its own.” It would certainly appear to me that John Boehner is using Netanyahu to advance his own agenda, and that includes scuttling any kind of diplomatic efforts between the Obama administration and Iran. That would be appeasing the apocalyptic Christian evangelicals in his party.

It's a dangerous game that Boehner is playing by inviting a foreign leader to address Congress for the sole purpose of undermining our elected president. How does that play with our hyper-patriotic Americans?

Schmidt; I rather have Obama invite him and give him a lesson in having flattened the whole of Gaza with the purpose of occupying it eventually and keeping on expanding Israeli settlements; looks a bit like Putin's tactics.

This is probably only the Beginning. The Repubs/Tea Party/Bircher agenda has always been to "get rid of democracy" and that includes any elected leader chosen by the American people. Their modus operandi has always been to increase the GOP/TeaParty/Birch power thru corruption and rigged elections, until they had total control over the Supreme Court (check)/ and the House & Senate (check?)/ & then the WhiteHouse. It is getting down to the wire, now ---- they feel strong enough to "show their hand" and claim Total Power, -- & soon they will even forbid any more elections in the USA.

But for right now, they want to CLAIM Leadership, & Executive Power AWAY from President Obama ---- like a "coup d'etat" --- and pretend that the American people have elected THEM. They live in their own FantasyLand, --- where FauxNews actually tells the Truth (ha ha ha).

Notice that Harry Reid has suffered some serious injuries. Possibly "exercising" ??? Or exercising his Freedom of Speech? Notice he was the Senate Majority Leader, and the Repubs have usurped power out of that body, refusing to pass bills, or do a darn thing) all year. Wake Up, it is just another sign of the upcoming "coup d'etat" ----- where Repubs show their true colors. (And they aren't the Red, White & Blue).

Remember also, the GOP did not hesitate to murder JFK and his brother RFK (in 1963 & 1968) because they did not want any delay for the GOP to get into full leadership of the US government. They are the epitome of corruption, of False Flags, of unnecessary wars, and they can LIE at a drop of a hat, Rigging elections is just another hobby with them. -- It is just Monopoly money & plastic figures on a board. No Big Deal.

Remember also, that the John Birch Society has been planning this for 57 years. How to weaken & destroy the duly elected govt of the USA, until it is "small enough to be drowned in a bathtub." Who said that? (not long ago). Oh, yes, it was Grover Norquist. --- good old Pal of Geo "W" Bush.

Well, the Epic Battle is going to be Fought again ---- GOOD vs EVIL ---- Man Living in Freedom vs Man Living in Chains

Having a "govt of the people, by the people, & for the people" - VS - An EVIL EMPIRE of Rich Capitalist Industrialists, bent on Total POWER

--- (sigh) -- And we always thought that the only thing we really had to fear was: Some Communist Nation -- with the ATOMIC BOMB !?!

Schmidt Wrote: It's a dangerous game that Boehner is playing by inviting a foreign leader to address Congress for the sole purpose of undermining our elected president. How does that play with our hyper-patriotic Americans?

This is very dangerous indeed. What is his end game here? What exactly does he hope to accomplish by so blatantly breaking protocol? Does he think that Obama will just do an about face, cancel negotiations with Iran, and ask for a declaration of war? Or has Boehner taken into account the possibly fatal dagger this could be with regards to Obama's relationship with Netanyahu?

And what the hell is Netanyahu thinking? How would he react if President Obama flew into Israel and spoke to the Knesset without his blessing? He would (rightfully) flip out. What makes him think it's acceptable for him to come into our country and try to convince our leaders to start yet another war in the Middle-East?

I don't like this at all. I think the repubs are doing this to court Jewish votes going forward.We don't need another WAR HAWK talking to our govt. Especially after their very negative recent track record. I agree with Dutch......... Their goal is to mount reasons for expansion into Palestinian territories. After the Paris killings of Jews a govt. spokes person said they shouldn't live in France....... They should move to Israel.

Max Fisher had a good column in Vox today that pretty much echos our sentiments, plus he added a few more twists.

Fisher notes as we do that Boehner is undermining not only Obama's presidency, but America's very leadership in the world at a critical time. But this isn't a first time Netanyahu has meddled in US foreign policy. In May 2011 he made a trip to Washington, where he "publicly lectured Obama at a press conference and then gave a speech to Congress slamming the president. That speech, also hosted by Republicans, received many standing ovations for Netanyahu's finger-wagging criticism of Obama."

During the 2012 election cycle, Netanyahu appeared with Romney and made speeches openly critical of Obama. "Netanyahu's criticisms of Obama were so pointed that some of Obama's opponents cut a campaign ad out of them. It became a joke within Israel that Netanyahu saw himself not as the leader of a sovereign country, but as the Republican senator from Israel."

I have often felt that many of Boehner;'s actions are driven by the right wing crazies in his party, but I think on this issue he is out on his own with Mitch McConnell with the intention of deliberately undermining Obama and his foreign policy in the eyes of world. These guys are doing this for spite...nothing else.

John Kerry just torpedoed Boehner's plan to embarrass Obama. The Huffngton Post has the details

Here's the key paragraph:

"In Israel, one of the top intelligence –- one of the top intelligence personnel within the Israeli intelligence field –- I won’t name names, but this person was asked directly by a congressional delegation that visited there over the weekend what the effect of sanctions would be. And this person answered that it would be like throwing a grenade into the process," Kerry said. "So we’re asking people to be responsible here, and then let’s have a good, responsible debate about what the best way to proceed is."

It's always reassuring when even conservative sources think that the Republicans in Congress are nuts.

Earlier this week, Forbes.com published an article that was highly critical of Boehner fro inviting Netanyahu to address Congress. You can read the entire article at the link below, but here's a few critical comments:

I get that the Speaker doesn’t like the President or his policies. I get that many readers of this piece will have snarky responses about how this President already embarrasses himself and our nation, etc., etc., etc.

But what neither the Speaker, nor those who cannot manage to think beyond their distaste for this president, understand is the truly unprecedented step Boehner has taken by joining with the leader of a foreign nation against his own president.

Presidents come and go. However, respect for the office of the presidency, particularly on the part of the man who is second in the line of succession to the presidency, should not.

Through his actions, Boehner may have scored some points for his party and for his preferred policy option vis-à-vis the Iranian nuclear negotiations. But in the process, the Speaker of the American House of Representatives has succeeded in embarrassing the Office of the President.Considering that Speaker Boehner has failed to accomplish anything of note during his Speakership, I can only wonder how it must feel to have his legacy be his effort to disgrace the American President in the effort to bolster the political chances of a foreign leader.

Does John Boehner even care about his legacy? It seems he is so blinded by his hate for Obama that he cannot recognize the hurt that he is causing to America, not only on this issue but a whole host of others. Power corrupts. Speaker Boehner will go down in history as perhaps one of the worst.

Schmidt Wrote: Does John Boehner even care about his legacy? It seems he is so blinded by his hate for Obama that he cannot recognize the hurt that he is causing to America, not only on this issue but a whole host of others. Power corrupts. Speaker Boehner will go down in history as perhaps one of the worst.

I couldn't agree more. Although, there has been plenty of terrible Speakers before him. Good ole Newt comes to mind.

Boehner will likely go down as a terrible Speaker though. If you look at his record, he hasn't accomplished anything. Seriously--he hasn't accomplished anything. He has pushed through no major legislation that originated in the House that was signed by the President, nor is he likely to do so these next two years. 2016 will likely see another Democratic President with another Republican House, so we can't expect to see him push through any major legislation even after Obama leaves office. The only thing he will be remembered for is not being able to get anything done and kowtowing to the radical Tea Party wing of the party at the expense of the nation.

While we can sit here and dissect the various personalities of Speaker Boehner & other Republicans, --- & how much they "hate" President Obama, -- then we are missing the ENTIRE BIG PICTURE. None of this would be happening, without a concerted effort, for the last 57 years, to subvert our United States Govt, by the "right wing" Republican Party. It began in 1958, & many of you already know that story. The John Birch Society, which has grown in power, & now morphed into the Tea Party. By intense propaganda, infiltration of churches, & various undercover sabotages, including 2 assassinations, the GOP has increased its numbers & its strength politically. By grasping major control over our nation's broadcast media, & limitless hate speech, we have seen nothing but turmoil, in our Congress, & in foreign relations. It is hard to succeed with a viable home agenda, & an effective foreign policy, if HALF of our Govt is too busy trying to destroy the other Half. And the Republicans even publicly admit they "don't believe in Democracy".

With full intentions on crippling & destroying our liberal Democratic wing of Govt, the smug corrupt Filthy RICH right wing Republican wing of govt, goes on gleefully sniping at our President, (one of the very best United States Presidents in the History of the World) & he is put into a position of being almost powerless, due to the unAmerican saboteurs & traitors, within the fascist conspiracy of the Republican Party, & its collaborator, the John Birch Society.

And the JBS itself, has numerous internal allies, like the KKK, the neo-Nazi elements, and the "religious Evangelicals" which if you look very closely, you will see the total "falsehood" of their religion, which is only a money-making charade of False Preachers, who do not even know the Basics of the Bible.

But a closer look will reveal that MOST of their Evangelical so-called Preachers, spend most of their time spewing the same false propaganda you will hear from the nutcase right-wing legislators & politicians. They do NOT preach "love & kindness & charity" -- like the REAL preachers do. All they ever talk about is how you can "plant seed money" to make some fat-cat preacher RICH, so he can own more broadcast stations, to Fund-Raise all over the world to spread their anti-American agenda. If you need a CLUE, as to which are True, or which are False preachers of the Gospel --- there are some very important signs that are pretty obvious.

JESUS CHRIST came to earth as the PRINCE of PEACE. Matthew 5: 9 "Blessed are the peacemakers:for they shall be called the children of God." // Luke 2: 13-14 "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward men." // Hebrews 13: 1-2 "Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby, some have entertained angels unawares." //

eternal flame Wrote: While we can sit here and dissect the various personalities of Speaker Boehner & other Republicans, --- & how much they "hate" President Obama, -- then we are missing the ENTIRE BIG PICTURE. None of this would be happening, without a concerted effort, for the last 57 years, to subvert our United States Govt, by the "right wing" Republican Party. It began in 1958, & many of you already know that story. The John Birch Society, which has grown in power, & now morphed into the Tea Party. By intense propaganda, infiltration of churches, & various undercover sabotages, including 2 assassinations, the GOP has increased its numbers & its strength politically. By grasping major control over our nation's broadcast media, & limitless hate speech, we have seen nothing but turmoil, in our Congress, & in foreign relations. It is hard to succeed with a viable home agenda, & an effective foreign policy, if HALF of our Govt is too busy trying to destroy the other Half. And the Republicans even publicly admit they "don't believe in Democracy".

With full intentions on crippling & destroying our liberal Democratic wing of Govt, the smug corrupt Filthy RICH right wing Republican wing of govt, goes on gleefully sniping at our President, (one of the very best United States Presidents in the History of the World) & he is put into a position of being almost powerless, due to the unAmerican saboteurs & traitors, within the fascist conspiracy of the Republican Party, & its collaborator, the John Birch Society.

And the JBS itself, has numerous internal allies, like the KKK, the neo-Nazi elements, and the "religious Evangelicals" which if you look very closely, you will see the total "falsehood" of their religion, which is only a money-making charade of False Preachers, who do not even know the Basics of the Bible.

But a closer look will reveal that MOST of their Evangelical so-called Preachers, spend most of their time spewing the same false propaganda you will hear from the nutcase right-wing legislators & politicians. They do NOT preach "love & kindness & charity" -- like the REAL preachers do. All they ever talk about is how you can "plant seed money" to make some fat-cat preacher RICH, so he can own more broadcast stations, to Fund-Raise all over the world to spread their anti-American agenda. If you need a CLUE, as to which are True, or which are False preachers of the Gospel --- there are some very important signs that are pretty obvious.

JESUS CHRIST came to earth as the PRINCE of PEACE. Matthew 5: 9 "Blessed are the peacemakers:for they shall be called the children of God." // Luke 2: 13-14 "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward men." // Also this little Gem: Hebrews 13: 1-2 "Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby, some have entertained angels unawares." // (There have been a few "angels" in my life)...

Eternal ; No wonder " There have been a few "angels" in your life; I always thougt I was your "angel"! . I guess the reason is they do not exist; a human body is not very aerodynamic and nowadays weighs too much because of all the hamburgers to be able to "fly"; only Victoria secret models can fly. I'm glad "angels" do not exist, can you imagine if they would "have to go" and drop "it" on your head while flying over your driveway? Except if it is an invisible one, then you are lucky.